Handing your nonprofit to a new leader: the checklist

Closing the organization rather than handing it on? Use how to dissolve a nonprofit instead.

Before you start: the vote and the list

1. Record the board's vote

   The board names the new leader, the start date and who may sign for the bank. Put it in the minutes, and have the secretary sign a copy. Banks and payment companies may ask to see it. Zeffy, for one, accepts a signed board resolution as proof when an old admin can't be reached.

2. List every account

   Write down each bank account, government login, app and key. For each one, note who owns it, which email signs in, and whose phone gets the security codes. If the codes go to the old leader's phone, the new leader can't get in.

3. Add first, remove second

   Give the new leader access to each account before you take the old leader off. If nobody can sign in, you have to prove to the company that you speak for the organization, and that is slow. If the former leader stays on, as a board member or a volunteer, keep only the access their new role needs.

The bank: signers and online banking

Each bank has its own steps, so call or visit and ask what it needs. Bring:

• The board's vote, in the minutes or a resolution, naming who may sign.
• Photo ID for each new signer.
• Your EIN and your organization's legal name, exactly as the bank has it.

Add the new signers first. Then ask the bank to take the former leader off every account, every debit and credit card, and the online banking login.

Give the new leader an online banking login of their own. Never share one login between two people. If your bank has an administrator role for online banking, move it to the new leader.

Federal rules also have your bank record one person who controls the organization, such as the executive director or the treasurer. Tell the bank who that is now.

Your state: registered agent and officers on file

Your state keeps a record of your nonprofit corporation. Most often it sits with the Secretary of State. Check three things there.

1. The registered agent

   This is the person or company that receives legal papers for you. See what a registered agent does. If the former leader was your agent, name a new one with the state. Until you do, official notices keep going to them. Texas says this plainly: its notices go to whoever is the registered agent on file.

2. The officers and directors on file

   Your state may list your officers or directors and update that list through a regular report. Each state sets its own schedule. In California, a nonprofit files a Statement of Information every two years, and the state asks for an updated one whenever the information changes. Texas asks a nonprofit for a report only when the Secretary of State requests one, at most once every four years. You may still file one at any time to update your officers.

3. The state's own login

   Some states control who may file online for you. In California, User Access has been required to file a Statement of Information online since August 1, 2026. Make sure the new leader can file before your next report is due.

To find your state's office, use the list of state business filing offices from the National Association of Secretaries of State. Then look your organization up in the state's business search to see who is listed today.

The IRS: Form 8822-B for a new responsible party

Every organization with an EIN has a responsible party on file with the IRS. For a tax-exempt organization, that is generally the principal officer. That is the officer who, whatever their title, carries out the board's decisions or oversees the day-to-day running of the organization. The responsible party must be a person, not a company.

When that person changes, the IRS must hear about it within 60 days. Use Form 8822-B:

• Check the box at the top that says you are a tax-exempt organization.
• Fill in lines 8 and 9 with the new person's name and Social Security number or ITIN.
• Have an officer sign it, such as the president, vice president or treasurer. A representative can sign instead, with a power of attorney attached, such as Form 2848.
• Mail it to the IRS address on the form. Which one depends on the state of your old address: Kansas City, Missouri, or Ogden, Utah.

The IRS says the change generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to process. The same form also updates your mailing address, if that is moving too.

Your EIN letter and the IRS online account

Find the notice the IRS sent when you got your EIN, called a CP 575. If no one can find it, the IRS suggests checking past tax returns or asking your bank. You can also call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. If you are authorized, they give you the number by phone. You can also ask them for Letter 147C, which confirms your EIN in writing.

The IRS Business Tax Account is open to tax-exempt organizations. It shows your IRS notices, payments and tax records, and you can download an EIN verification notice from it. Full access goes to a Designated Official. That must be an officer (president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, CEO, CFO or COO), the board chair, or a trustee. The Designated Official can then add other people as Designated Users.

Access is personal. Each person uses the same IRS sign-in as for their own individual IRS account. So the new leader registers in their own name, never with the old leader's sign-in. A Designated Official also has to renew the role every year.

While you are at it, keep a copy of your IRS determination letter, the letter that says you are tax-exempt. Letters issued since January 1, 2014 can be downloaded from the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. For an older one, ask the IRS with Form 4506-B.

Your Form 990 and the e-Postcard login

Form 990 names your principal officer and their address. Put the new leader there on the next one. A Form 990 must be signed by a current officer who is authorized to sign on the day it is filed, such as the president, vice president or treasurer.

If you file the e-Postcard, Form 990-N, you file it online with a Login.gov or ID.me account. The new leader signs in with their own. The e-Postcard asks for the name and address of a principal officer, so enter the new leader there.

If an accountant files for you, tell them who the new contact is. Not sure which form you file? Use which Form 990. Due dates are in Form 990 deadline.

State charity registration

If you register with any state to ask for donations, check who each registration lists as your contact and your officers. Update it with that state's charity office, so renewal notices reach someone who is still there. The office is usually the Attorney General or the Secretary of State, and the National Association of State Charity Officials lists each one. New to this? See registration by state.

Your web address: the domain and its DNS

Your web address, like yourorg.org, is held through a company called a registrar. To see which one, search your address in ICANN Lookup, a free public tool. Personal details may be hidden for privacy.

• Make the organization the registrant, the legal holder of the domain. Use a shared email the organization controls, like admin@yourorg.org, not a former leader's personal address.
• Add the new leader to the registrar account, and turn on auto-renew.
• Check the card that pays the renewal. If it is the former leader's personal card, replace it, so the domain doesn't lapse when that card is closed.

Changing the registrant's name, organization or email is a Change of Registrant under ICANN's rules. The registrar has to get both the old and the new registrant to confirm it, so do it while the former leader is easy to reach. After the change, the registrar must lock the domain against moving to another registrar for 60 days, unless you opted out beforehand where the registrar allows it. If you also want to switch registrars, switch before you change the registrant. An ICANN working group has asked to drop both the two-sided check and the 60-day lock. On 2 October 2026 the rules above still applied, so ask your registrar which ones it follows.

Then find where your DNS is managed. DNS is the set of records that sends your email and your website to the right place. It may sit with your registrar, your web host or a service like Cloudflare. Add the new leader there too, and leave the records alone during the handover unless something is broken.

Email admin accounts

The top admin in your email system can reset anyone's password. In Google Workspace that is a super admin. In Microsoft 365 it is a Global Administrator.

• Google Workspace. Make the new leader a super admin. Google recommends more than one super admin, each a different person, with a separate account for everyday work. Add recovery options to each admin account. Then remove the former leader's admin role.
• Microsoft 365. Make the new leader a Global Administrator. A Global Administrator can't remove their own role, so the new leader removes the old one. Microsoft recommends having as few Global Administrators as possible.
• The former leader's mailbox. Before you close it, keep the mail or forward it. Donors and partners will still write to that address.

Website and social media logins

Do the same on your website builder or host, and on each social media account. Add the new leader as a full admin, then remove the former leader. Check whose card pays for the website, too.

On a Facebook Page, give the new leader Facebook access with full control. That role can change every setting, delete the Page, and give or remove anyone's access, including other people with full control. Give it only to people you trust with all of that.

Payment processors and donation platforms

These accounts hold money on its way to you, so move them early.

1. Stripe

   The current owner can hand the account to a user with the Administrator or Super Administrator role. In Team settings, open the menu next to that person and choose Transfer ownership. If the owner can't be reached, Stripe Support can move it after it checks identities and your tie to the business. Stripe tells the current owner and admins by email and text when a request starts.

   Stripe also keeps an account representative, under Business details. If you remove the old one, name a new one within seven days, or payouts may be paused.

2. PayPal

   Only the primary account holder can add or remove users, under Account Settings and Manage users. To change the name on a charity account, the holder goes to Account Settings, then Account owner information. PayPal asks for a letter on your letterhead asking to remove the old name and add the new one. The letter gives the account email and an authorized signer's signature, and PayPal also asks for proof of Social Security number. Without primary access, you contact PayPal to make the change.

3. Zeffy and other donation platforms

   In Zeffy, the admin goes to Settings, then Manage users, invites the new owner, and chooses Make admin. If the admin has left, Zeffy's support can move the account once you show proof, such as a signed board resolution or recent bank statements. For any other platform, search its help pages for "transfer ownership." On each one, check which bank account the money pays out to.

Every app should belong to the organization

Go through each app your team uses: email lists, your donor list, file storage, accounting, scheduling. For each one, ask who the owner is. The answer should be the organization, through an organization email, not one person's personal account. Files and lists that sit in a personal account can leave with that person.

Where you can, own each app through a shared organization email that the board can always reach, and pay with an organization card.

Insurance, leases and contracts

Call your insurance agent or broker. Tell them who the new contact is, check that each policy names the organization, and note the renewal dates. Ask whether the change of leader affects anything on your policies. If you are unsure what you carry, see the nonprofit insurance guide.

Then list every lease, loan and contract. For each one, note who signed it and who gets the notices, and update the notice contact in writing. If the former leader signed a personal guarantee, for a lease, a loan or a credit card, ask the other side in writing what it takes to release them. Close any organization card in the former leader's name and issue a new one.

Keys, codes and passwords

• Keys and codes. Building keys, alarm codes, safe combinations and storage units. Get each one back, or change it.
• The post office box. Everyone who picks up mail for your organization must be listed on USPS Form 1093, and the box holder must update the form when that changes. New people on the form must show two forms of ID.
• Passwords. Keep them in a password manager the organization owns, in a shared vault, not in one person's head or browser. After the handover, change the password on any login the former leader knew.
• Security codes. Move two-step codes from the former leader's phone to the new leader's, or to a shared organization number.

A 30-day handover plan

1. Before day 1

   The board votes and records it. The former and new leader sit down with the account list and agree who will hold each account.

2. Week 1: money and email

   Bank signers and online banking. Stripe, PayPal and your donation platforms. The email admin role and the password manager. Add the new leader everywhere first.

3. Week 2: the IRS and your state

   Form 8822-B, since the 60 days started the day the responsible party changed. The IRS Business Tax Account. Your registered agent and any officer update. Your state charity registrations.

4. Week 3: web, social and apps

   The domain registrar and DNS. Your website and social media accounts. The owner, login email and payment card of every app.

5. Week 4: paper, keys and a last sweep

   Insurance, leases and contracts. Keys, codes and the post office box. Then go down the list once more, and remove the former leader from anything they no longer need.

Keep the finished list with your board records. The next handover starts from it, not from a blank page.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Each step was checked against the official source on 2 October 2026. Forms and company rules change, so check the current page before you file, and ask your accountant or lawyer how it applies to you.

Where Ember fits

Hand Ember over in one step

If you use Ember, the owner can make the new leader the owner in Team settings. The old owner stays on as an admin, and Ember emails the new owner to let them know. In Ember Compliance, each filing has an owner you can change, so you can move your 990 and state reports to the new leader too. Unlimited users on every tier.

Sources: IRS: About Form 8822-B, Form 8822-B (Rev. December 2019), Instructions for Form SS-4 (December 2025), Instructions for Form 990 (2025), IRS: Form 990-N (e-Postcard), IRS: Employer identification number, IRS: Business Tax Account, IRS: Copies of exemption determination letters, FinCEN: CDD Rule FAQs (May 2026), NASS: Corporate registration, California SOS: Statements of Information, California SOS: FAQs, Texas SOS: Nonprofit FAQs, NASCO: State charity offices, ICANN Transfer Policy, ICANN: Transfer Policy Review final report, ICANN Lookup FAQ, Google Workspace: Admin account best practices, Microsoft 365: About admin roles, Meta: About Facebook Page access, Stripe: Change the owner of an account, Stripe: Update the business representative, PayPal: Charity contact name, PayPal: Manage users, Zeffy: Ownership transfers, Zeffy: If your admin has left, USPS: Domestic Mail Manual 508. All read 2 October 2026.